The Chima Star
by Dreamia
Summary: Koroku, the overlooked Chima star, finally gets some of the attention he deserves in this series of short stories focused around the little dog and various other Stars of Destiny. Now with two more adventures in Budehuc.
1. Guard Duty

**Disclaimer:** The fan fiction writer sat in front of the computer as she heard an "aroo" from beside her desk.  Looking over to the where the bark originated she sighed, "I know, Koroku, I do not own you, Suikoden, or any of its characters.  You're still Konami's and this is just fan fiction," with that, the dog nodded in approval and wandered out of the room.

**Description:**  Cecile calls Koroku to morning guard duty...

**Guard Duty**

**Koroku and Cecile**

Guest starring: Thomas and Albert.

            Koroku happily dug a hole in the endless grassy field hundreds of miles away from Budehuc Castle.  There were no knights, no horses, no cats, nothing but the little dog and large animal bones just lying about for him to gnaw on and bury where ever he wanted.  This simple field was the stray's paradise and no one else was there to take it away from him.  There were no humans to wake him up from his naps, no one to chase him away when he wanted to take a swim, and no one to question his choice of bundle color.  It was-

            "Good morning, Lieutenant Koroku!" Cecile shouted into the small wooden house with her armor reflecting the morning sun.  "It's time to guard the front gate." she said with a smile knowing that she had finally found Koroku before he started his daily adventures around the castle.

            Koroku, caught off guard by the early intrusion and disappointed that his dream was not reality, opened one light amber eye and gave a piercing bark at the knight in oversized armor.  He was usually up and wandering the castle halls by the time Cecile came around to call him to duty, but today he unfortunately did not wake up soon enough to avoid her.  If it was last week guarding the castle would have not bothered the dog, but that was before his barks at the front gate scared Lady Chris' horse into causing a horrible domino effect that ended with three bruised knights and a hysterical white tornado of a horse that would never forgive him; Cecile had forgiven him far too soon, however.

            "Come on, Koroku!  This time nothing bad is going to happen at the gate, I promise.  I even brought you breakfast."  Cecile then backed away from the little doorway and revealed a bowl of fresh dog food.  She knew the little caramel dog could never resist a free meal.

            At the notion of breakfast, Koroku opened his other eye and dashed out of his shelter towards the stone bowl with an ecstatic bark.  Watching his tail wag like a sped up grandfather clock, Cecile took a seat on the tavern doorstep.  Once Koroku was full he gave a quick bark in Cecile's direction and bounded into the girl's lap.

            "I take it you're done?" Cecile asked with a smile, the animal gave a yelp and human-like nod in response.  "Then, let's get to work," Cecile said, standing as she gently sat Koroku down on the ground, and began her march to the front gate.  Koroku followed as his tail continued to wag; he had forgotten entirely about the prior front gate incident.

            With Koroku in tail, Cecile came to a sudden stop before the gate and glanced about as if someone was already waiting to sneak past her.  Koroku, nearly running into  his captain, made a slight whimpering sound and blinked in confusion.

            "Aroo?" Koroku asked, as he backed up, tilting his head inquisitively.

            Cecile pointed to her left, "Stand over in the grass, lieutenant," Cecile ordered in her best commanding voice as she took the opposite side.  Koroku complied; he never liked it when Cecile used that tone of voice.

            "Now, stand up straight and don't move around too much so you look imposing," looking at her underling critically she nodded once Koroku achieved the proper effect.  "There you go!  Er, I mean, nice work lieutenant!  That's an improvement from last time."

            Koroku gave a single quick park in acknowledgement of Cecile's approval and looked out towards the grasslands alertly, well, as alertly as a lazy stray dog could in bright sunlight that caused him to pant uncontrollably.  But, as Cecile stood vigilant in her shining armor, Koroku, having nothing to entertain himself with, began to feel his eyes droop.  After a few minutes of desperately trying to hold the pose Cecile had directed, the vagabond dog gave up the effort and leaned forward on his white belly and dozed off in the grass, slowly beginning to revisit his dream field. 

Long after her canine companion started to nap, Cecile realized that her second in command was not minding his duties to the castle.  "Koroku!" she tapped her pike on the ground in attempt at waking the slumbering dog.  "Attention, lieutenant!" Cecile ordered in her commanding voice appalled at the dog's unknightly behavior.  "ATTEN-TION!" she repeated.

            Koroku opened his eyes and stretched his limbs nonchalantly, enjoying the dirt beneath his paws, not at all shaken or stirred to action any more than usual.

            "Stop fooling around!  Guarding the gate is a serious and important responsibility.  If we don't stop those…," Cecile surveyed the area and noticed an odd sight that she could not believe, "those," Cecile blinked and rubbed her eyes as Koroku sat up and followed the girl's gaze, "Harmonians?" Cecile said questioning her own vision.

            "Aroo!?" Koroku replied as he saw the four approaching figures, three clad in armor and the forth wearing an all too familiar long white coat that made the dog growl.  The dog remembered the coat as one Cecile told him to look out for once before. 

Koroku carefully walked to the center of the gate way as Cecile tried to determine what to do with the trespassers once they arrived.  The girl sighed realizing she would just have to do her best and stand tall until she had proper instruction from Master Thomas on what to do with the bunch.  It was odd seeing Harmonians in Budehuc, there had not been any around since the masked bishop's defeat months ago, and what they were doing in the grasslands now was a mystery to Cecile.  Even more perplexing was what Albert Silverberg was doing with Harmonian escorts.  Albert had been in league with plans to destroy a true rune not too long ago, which was not deserving of anything other than shackles, something Cecile noted he did not have.

"Aroo?" Koroku called out as the Harmonians stopped at the main gate.

One of the helmed figures looked down puzzled at what he heard, never had a dog seriously asked him a question before but this one clearly made an attempt at it.  "What is the meaning of this?  A dog is guarding Budehuc?" he asked, turning to his companions.  The other knights began to chuckle as Koroku held his ground.

"No, knights guard Budehuc and that dog you speak of is a knight and also the second in command!" Cecile replied holding her weapon out threateningly.

"I knew Budehuc was an odd place, but surly they can do better than a little girl and a dog as their first line of defense."  The red headed Silverberg said as he made his way in front of his armored escorts.  "It's good to see you, Miss Cecile."

"It's Captain Cecile to you, and what business do you have at Budehuc Castle, Albert?" the small girl asked not at all impressed as she looked straight into the much taller man's dark green eyes.  "Destroyers like you are not welcome here!  You should be in a dark hole somewhere where you can't hurt anyone!"

"The Four Destroyers were defeated and I have moved on, presently I have been most unfortunately stationed here as an emissary between Budehuc and Holy Harmonia, Captain." Albert smirked slightly at his extra emphasis on Cecile's title which made the girl frown and Koroku growl warily.

"I don't believe you."    Cecile plainly stated.

"Believe it.  I was sent here by Bishop Sasarai himself."  The strategist stated as if it was an important mission, but truthfully Sasarai just wanted to keep this particular strategist out of Harmonian affairs.  "I also have papers directly from the bishop."  Albert added, taking an envelope with the official seal of Harmonia out of his coat pocket and handing it to the teenage knight.

Cecile looked over the envelope's seal and bit her lip, it looked authentic enough, but she was not the one to judge.  She turned to her left and addressed her ally, "Koroku, take this to Master Thomas, he's might be in the meeting room." She then kneeled beside the dog and placed the envelope between his parted teeth.  The Harmonian guards chucked slightly at the thought of the dog's saliva upon the official document, chuckles that caused Cecile to scowl even more.  With the paper firmly within his grasp, Koroku pushed himself to a run towards the castle.

"Are you going to keep us from the castle until your second in command returns, or can we go deal with more important matters without further delay, Captain?"  Albert asked as he pushed his bangs back from his face.  He had again put a mocking infliction on the titles just to frustrate Cecile.

"You're not permitted inside until Master Thomas gives you permission; it's as simple as that."

"And how long will that take?" Albert asked, looking back to the knights standing behind him.

Cecile tried to make herself look taller as she took a quick look at the knights and then shifted her eyes back to the speaker. "As long as it needs to, Master Thomas is not going to let someone like you just walk in!  You tried to blow up the continent!  I won't forget that, and no one else will either!"

"That mutt had better hurry up then," one of the guards whispered to his peers, much to Cecile's disgust.  "This place is giving me a headache."

Koroku ran as fast as his four legs allowed towards the castle, he even ignored the calico cats that were running about, which was no small feat for the easily distracted canine.  Climbing the outer stairs two at once, Koroku reached the massive wood doors of Budehuc castle in record time and pushed them open with all his weight.  The doors scarcely missed slamming on his tail as he entered the tiled room with newly repaired walls.  He made his way into the meeting room with the same urgency.  Koroku always found the dimly lit meeting room exciting, the large statues of knights and expensive paintings intrigued him, especially for a short dog that saw the world from the ground up.  Refocusing on the matter at hand, Koroku easily found Thomas in his usual attire sitting at a mahogany desk looking over a series of scrolls.  The master of the castle looked up in confusion at what appeared to be an invisible ghost entering his office, he soon realized otherwise as he heard the panting of a familiar dog at his side.

"Koroku?  What are you doing in here?  Is something wrong with Cecile?"  Thomas asked seriously, Koroku had never come to him out of playfulness and Thomas never expected any different from him.  Rightfully so, Thomas reasoned as he noticed the official Harmonian seal between the dog's clamped jaws, "Oh my!  What have you got in your mouth?  Is that for me?" 

Koroku gave a weak whimper at the barrage of questions; he had already become confused after the first two, but still willingly gave up the envelope to the just as frazzled Thomas.  Opening the envelope, and completely ignoring the dampness of its contents, Thomas read the note to himself, noted Bishop Sasarai's signature, and rubbed his head to get his thoughts in order.  Why would someone like Albert be the emissary from Harmonia to Budehuc, he had been an enemy of both places just a few months ago!

"Oh well," Thomas said aloud, "it's not my place to judge who Holy Harmonia employs, as long as everything turns out all right in the end there can't be anything wrong with him being here."

"Aroo?" Koroku said in confusion.  Quickly ignoring what Thomas said, Koroku walked behind the master of Budehuc and gave him a nudge towards the side door, Cecile was still waiting outside with the Harmonians and this seriously bothered the canine.  If there was anyone Koroku cared for at Budehuc, it was Cecile.  Koroku had also taken an instant disliking to the new Silverberg, of course Caesar's stories had not gone totally unheeded by the dog, who listened far more than many realized.  Koroku began to nudge Thomas' leg even more.

"Oh?  Is Cecile still out there with them, Koroku?"  Thomas asked, nearly falling over backwards as the dog pushed him in the opposite direction.  Koroku gave a steady bark in reply, and ran ahead of the well dressed teen but stopped short of opening the door to make certain the human was following.  "Go on, I'm following you my good fellow," Thomas stated in acknowledgment of the dog's obvious spurring.  Koroku then happily opened the door and led the way.

"How long does it take the dog to get from one place to another?  I honestly think it would have been much more efficient if you had delivered the letter yourself," Albert said with his eyes on the now expressionless Cecile, who ignored his remark entirely and kept her gaze straight ahead.  Even the three Harmonian knights had begun to admire Cecile's persistent professionalism; she had spent over ten minutes now without saying a single thing to Albert's constant comments.

Within minutes a sharp bark came from towards the castle causing Cecile to immediately turn and drop her stone face for a smile as she saw the dog with Master Thomas straggling behind.  Her smile lessened as Albert and the Harmonian knights entered the gate without permission, however.

"Greetings, Master Thomas, I am Albert Silverberg the representative from Holy Harmonia.  Bishop Sasarai personally assured me I would be welcome here, but your captain of the guard has already done quite the opposite," Albert stated flatly as he walked towards Thomas, followed by a low growl from the canine standing nearby.

"I know who you are and I-I'm sorry about that, I think, I mean, I'm sorry about you feeling unwelcome; but you'll be welcome here now that all the paper work has been taken care of.  Right, Cecile?"  Thomas asked as Cecile forced her way past two of the armored Harmonians.

"Yes…," Cecile lied through her teeth angrily.

Sensing Cecile's dislike of Albert, Koroku walked up to the red haired strategist's shoes and parked twice noisily.  Albert took a few steps back and looked down at the dog with a harsh glare.  Cecile stifled a giggle at the exchange and went back to her emotionless expression.

Thomas looked at Koroku in disappointment at the choice of action, "That's enough Koroku, Albert is a guest," as much as Thomas hated to admit it, Albert was indeed a guest of Budehuc with Thomas' very own guarantee.  "Cecile, please take Koroku back to his house for the day," the seriousness of Thomas' statement made the Harmonian knights snicker, "and, the rest of you can follow me, please."

Albert was tempted to kick the dog before he followed his host but decided against it to keep in good graces with Thomas.  It seemed that Caesar would not be the only pest to deal with in Budehuc Castle after all.  Thinking of Caesar, Albert sneered in realization that Sasarai had indeed picked a cruel and fitting punishment for the otherwise cool headed strategist; forcing him to live with animals of all sorts just to prove his loyalty to Harmonia was an idea Albert might have devised for someone else but not himself.  The bishop certainly knew what he was doing.

Koroku hastily followed Cecile to escape the piercing gaze of the calculating strategist; the dog also went in hopes of getting something to eat.  Poor Koroku had more than enough of guarding the front gate and would take note to get up even earlier from then on to avoid Cecile's morning calls.  With a relieved bark as he reached his plain wooden house, Koroku turned to the armored teen in hopes of more free food. Much to the dog's disappointment, Cecile instead left him with a pat on the back and a mischievous smile.

"I'll be back with food in less than an hour for you, Koroku.  Right now, I'm going to talk with Caesar," she said as she walked towards the castle doors.

Koroku tilted his head to the side as he watched Cecile walk away and let out a soft "aroo".  Tomorrow he would have to find someone else to keep him company; he did not want anything to do with guarding the front gate again.  Curling into a furry ball, Koroku lay in his dog house, whimpered as he pawed at his green bundle, and slowly drifted back to sleep.

**Author's Note:** Well, there's my first attempt at fan fiction.  I hope it's not too awful.


	2. Just Like Knights

**Disclaimer:**  Koroku stood curiously in front the simple poster board sign that read:

This is fan fiction and I do not own Koroku, Suikoden or any of the other Suikoden characters.  They all belong to Konami. 

Upon reading the sign with his doggy intellect, Koroku looked about and promptly left the area with a simple "aroo".

**Just Like Knights**

**Koroku and Chris**

Guest Starring: Chris' horse, Blizzard

Koroku sat under a large tree just to the side of Budehuc stables watching the pinned in horses with curiosity.  Just a little over a week before, Koroku had caused three of the Zexen steeds to take quite a fall and the dog was now interested in seeing how they would react to seeing him.  The single daunting white steed within the pin answered Koroku's curiosity with a menacing look.  Meeting the horse's icy stare, Koroku decided that he had not been forgiven and backed up against the tree in an instinctive reaction to the threatening larger creature. 

A gentle gust of wind crossed between the two animals as Koroku's attention shifted to a flock of chirping white birds crossing the cloudless sky in a triangular formation. As he thought about how free the birds were Koroku realized that the horses could not reach him from behind the wooden fence.  Koroku yapped at the horses once to test his fence theory, it caused the majority of the Zexen horses to stir restlessly but they showed no ability to approach the thoughtful canine.  The white steed, however, did give a fiery neigh in return.

Shortly after the disturbance, another foreign sound drew the canine's attention, but this time it was that of the slight clank of metal upon metal.  Curiously watching for the source of the sounds, Koroku detected a white haired lady knight approaching.  Immediately recognizing the woman, Koroku let out a welcoming bark to Chris Lightfellow.

The violet eyed silver maiden turned to the sound and smiled slightly before turning her attention back to the white steed residing in the stables, who snorted disdainfully in the dog's direction.  Koroku growled with jealousy and walked out from under the shade of the tree to take a seat at Chris' left armored foot.  The breeze whistling through the wooden stable, he looked up with a soft whine for attention.  Chris' steed hoofed at the ground as Chris once again looked to the dog; she still wore a slight smile.  Now that he had reclaimed the lady's attention, Koroku began to swish his tail back and forth across the ground with delight.

"Are you fighting for my affection too, Koroku?"  Chris asked as she scratched behind the dog's ears gently, Koroku continued to happily wag his tail, "Well, you're not the only one," Chris said thinking of her jealous steed and fellow knights.

Koroku tilted his head to the side as his fluffy tail continued to wag.  He let out a slight "aroo" to Chris' statement.

"Huh?  You think I should be happy about all the attention I've been getting?" Chris asked Koroku, the question was something she truly wanted an answer to. As Chris thought, her horse nudged her cheek lightly, causing her thoughts to go back to the jealous equine.  "Don't worry, Blizzard, I haven't forgotten about you."  She patted the horse's head in reassurance and looked in to its eyes with another one of her infrequently seen smiles.

The white steed neighed pleasantly but leered at Koroku in triumph, the smaller animal gave a throaty growl in response.  Undeterred by Blizzard's actions, the persistent dog rose up on his hind legs and gave a light whine as he pawed the empty air beside Chris' leg.

Chris looked down as she realized how much the two animals were like humans. "You two remind me of Borus and Percival.  Well, maybe more like Nash than Percival," Chris stated in obvious amusement. "You're just as persistent as all three of them, that's for sure."

Koroku barked to draw Chris's eyes to meet his again.  The dog was far too spoiled by everyone else's attention, Chris reasoned as she looked at how much Koroku reveled in just having her look at him.  Another strong gust of wind caused Chris's hair to ripple across her face, widening her smile.  With a gleeful bark into the wind, Koroku sat on his tail and reflected Chris' smile with his own attempt at one.  The odd showing of teeth made the envious stallion sneer and jostle the fence irritably.  Koroku snapped his jaws at the horse fiercely in reaction to the hostility.

Chris' smile disappeared as she shook her head in disapproval at Koroku's behavior.  "That's not very kind, Koroku," she said, but was actually still amused by the animals' wordless bickering.  If they could speak Chris knew their exchange would sound like those she had heard from various men.

Blizzard neighed, his eyes gleaming with amusement at hearing the dog being scolded.  Koroku, not at all pleased, shifted to a threatening stance, barking and growling noisily.

"That's quite enough out of both of you!"  Chris scolded, prompting both sides to back down.  Koroku placed his tail between his legs with a whimper and the snow colored stallion turned his head away from his lady in shame.

"You two truly are just like stubborn knights." 

Chris heaved a sigh as both animals looked to her as if to say: "We are knights!"

Chris pulled her hair away from her face and replied to their unspoken statements, "Unfortunately, I'm also a knight and have a lot of work to do."  She turned towards the castle but instantly turned back to the animals once more. "I'll see you both later, and don't you dare fight once I leave," Chris warned, looking at both in turn as they nodded in their own animal ways.  "Good, and don't think that I won't deal with you personally if cause any trouble." Chris then turned and walked away relaxed from the short reprieve from her numerous duties.

The two animals were greatly disappointed that there was no clear winner between them and traded quick, angry glances at the other after the female knight walked away.  After their last exchange of opposing glares, Koroku trotted off in a taunting, horse-like style to find better company than the ill mannered horse.  Blizzard angry neighed as he watched the stray's obvious mocking.  For the rest of the day, each animal assured themselves that they were Lady Chris' favorite after their little scuffle; but in reality, they were both as equal in standing as everyone was to the dedicated knight, Chris Lightfellow.

Author's Note:  I couldn't remember there being much if anything about Chris' horse from the game so I just went my own way with its personality, and I also hope that Chris wasn't terribly OOC.


	3. Vegetable Run

**Disclaimer:** Koroku leaped upon the computer desk ecstatically as he noticed the fan fiction writer had finally turned her attention to him once again.

"Hey, Koroku! I certainly haven't seen you in awhile, but I bet you're here just because you want me to say your favorite line again, right?" The little canine arooed once in agreement. "Okay then. Koroku, Suikoden, and all of its characters belong to Konami, not me. Good enough for you, Koroku?

"Aroo," Koroku replied in satisfaction, and as quickly as he had appeared, Koroku leaped from the table and bolted out the door and off to another Budehuc Castle adventure.

* * *

**Vegetable Run**

**Koroku, Mamie, and Barts**

Koroku sat on his haunches happily as Mamie placed a gentle hand on his neck and smiled. "Aren't you the smartest dog ever, Koroku?"

"Aroo!" Koroku barked, wagging his shaggy tail ecstatically in agreement.

"You're so smart that I'm going to send you on errands today!" With that, Mamie straightened her hat and smiled. The words brought Koroku's tail to an abrupt halt, however.

In many cases, Koroku's intelligence was rewarded with treats and pats on the head, but he found no pleasure in working because his fellow canines were not quite as talented. The poor fellow could never find a break in such a busy castle anymore, especially because Cecile had taken quite a liking to boasting about Koroku's intelligence to all of her friends.

He watched the youthful chef carefully remove a package from behind her well kept counter and remove an odd saddle-like device from within. Koroku tilted his head inquisitively to the side as she slung the equipment over his back. And, despite the whimpering and fidgeting he gave in protest, Mamie strapped a series of buckles under Koroku's furry belly. She had no doubt been saving this item for just the occasion she found Koroku running about during her preparations for the day's lunch, another reminder to why Koroku had always tried to avoid early morning trips to the restaurant. Although Mamie reassured the struggling animal that no harm would come to him from this little job, Koroku knew better. No member of Budehuc's population had ever put him to work without a resulting disaster.

"There! I think that's going to hold. I didn't even hurt your cute little bundle!" Mamie stated as she slightly tugged on each of the three leather straps with a nod of approval. Koroku only gave a feeble aroo to her mention of the bundle. "Oh, it's not so bad, fella," Mamie scratched behind his ears comfortingly. "You could be standing guard with Cecile instead." Koroku's ears perked up at the name, he really did enjoy Cecile's company more than any one else's, although guarding the castle wasn't exactly his forte. The female chef turned her back to Koroku and put a hand to her mouth in thought as she studied the white menu board, which was entirely covered in her own neat handwriting. "Hmm…Let's send you over to get fresh vegetables from Barts first."

Koroku, instead of being the attentive creature he was usually regarded as, was watching a calico cat scramble across the far wall. The many packages around his back were the only thing keeping him from leaping at the cat in pursuit. "Koroku!" Mamie shouted as she turned and noticed her new employee's lack of cooperation. The startled animal snapped to attention, a talent learned from excessive time with Cecile.

"You're not listening are you?" Mamie asked already knowing the answer. Koroku sunk to his belly and put his paws over his eyes in an attempt to hide from what he perceived to be a forthcoming lecture. Giving up any hopes of making the canine listen intently, Mamie instead shook her head and proceeded to take pen and paper from beneath the counter. Moving her eye's from the dog, she sighed to herself. "We can do this, I'll write a message to Barts right here and you deliver it while I keep the rest of the food on the stove." She began to scribble the short message with the same neat letters adorning the menu. After signing her name, she folded the paper in a neat rectangle and held it out to Koroku.

"Ar-," he began to question before Mamie placed the paper horizontally in his mouth.

"Go on, Barts shouldn't even be too far away. I still need to finish the lunchboxes I promised the knights." Mamie gave Koroku's pouches one last tug to make sure they were still secure and gave him a slight push towards the fields.

Koroku gave another muffled aroo as the momentum sent him from the counter to the ground without losing the note from between his canine jaws. He looked about the outdoor dining area for the cat once Mamie was preoccupied with her cooking but, thinking better of the notion, he instead ran towards the vegetable fields in compliance with the chef's wishes.

* * *

Barts, admiring his work as always, sat in the middle of two perfect rows of corn smiling to himself in satisfaction. His attention was most unfortunately drawn away, however, as a little caramel dog trotted up to him with a single slip of paper sagging with saliva in its teeth. "Pig Dog! I thought I told you to not come near the crops," with a single hand Barts picked Koroku up by the stomach and sat the dog in his lap to ensure no harm would come to the all important vegetables. "So, what have you got there?" Barts asked as he removed the damp parchment from Koroku's slobbering mouth. "Someone finally putting something in that mouth of yours other than my crops?" He cautiously put Koroku off to the side and unfolded the paper with a chuckle. "It's even addressed to me, eh?" 

Of course no longer interested in the job at paw, Koroku's tongue licked his chops happily as he pondered over the various vegetables surrounding him. Knowing he was not being supervised as Barts was reading the letter, Koroku began to drift towards a corn stalk like a predator to his helpless prey.

"So, Mamie wants me to send mini tomatoes and carrots with you? What is she think-" Barts looked up right as Koroku began pawing an ear of corn. "NO, NO, NO, Pig Dog! Those aren't for you!" Barts harshly pulled the dog back by a leather strap and told him to sit with a commanding tone, one that reminded the dog of his commander in her most angry moments. "Now, stay there and I'm going to get these vegetables for Mamie." Still keeping an eye on the mischievous canine, Barts stood up and began to acquire the requested ingredients from the many varying rows of vegetables.

"Arf! Arf! AROOOO!" Koroku barked in Barts' direction rebelliously, but the small canine still lacked the never to move from the spot he was assigned. Regardless, the developing dislike for this young, Iksay farmer was more than apparent.

Ignoring the dog's hostilities, Barts continued his task and soon came back to the animal with a variety of vegetables. Kneeling beside the dog turned pack animal, Barts carefully placed the produce evenly within Koroku's pouches, and was certain to keep all of the precious goods out of Koroku's reach knowing the dog would chomp at them regardless of the responsibilities placed on him from Mamie. The farmer took Mamie's letter out of his pant's pocket and double checked what she needed.

"Okay, Pig Dog, that's all she needs. You can head back over to Mamie, and I mean RIGHT back. I know you're bound to wander elsewhere if I don't tell you straight." Barts picked up a shovel which rested against the castle wall and tapped it against his shoulder impatiently at the dog's lack of action. "Come on, Pig Dog! What are you waiting for? I have more work to do, and I bet you do too, although I don't think pig dogs like you are capable of any real work."

Koroku wrinkled his nose at Bart's tone of voice and replied with an angry "aroo" as he turned tail to the east.

Barts held back a laugh as he watched the dog bound off with the carrot tops hanging from out of the many pouches strapped awkwardly to its back, but he could not help but laugh aloud as he noticed the dog's lack of direction sense...or rather, lack of work ethic. "That's the wrong way, Pig Dog!" Barts exclaimed in the dog's direction. "That mangy mutt is never going to bring those vegetables to Mamie," Barts mumbled to himself, but what else could he expect from that vagabond dog?

* * *

**Author's Note:** It's been awhile since I have written much of anything, and it's been even longer since I've played Suikoden III, so I hope it all turned out okay. This isn't the end of Koroku's little vegetable run yet, so continue on for the second half if you wish! 


	4. Vegetable Delivery

** Disclaimer:** Koroku leaped into the fan fiction writer's lap with a sharp AROO! "Huh? What's wrong, Koroku? I know, I haven't finished your last adventure yet but I'm about to and-"

"AROOO!"

"Oh! I know! I know! I still don't own you, Suikoden, or any of its characters and they are, and always will be, Konami's property."

Koroku nodded in his doggy manner and wagged his tail happily as he sat patiently in her lap for the conclusion of his next little romp through Budehuc castle…

* * *

**Vegetable Delivery**

**Koroku, Mamie, and Scott**

Guest Starring: Scott's parrot Waurenhyte

"Aroou! Aroou!"

Koroku's ears went up as he raised a non-existent doggy eyebrow. That was certainly not his bark; it was not even remotely like his bark.

"Aroou! Aroou!" the squawky mimic continued.

"Aroo?" Koroku barked in confusion as he followed the sound to fulfill his growing curiosity. He instinctively lowered his stomach to rest entirely on the ground in an attempt to remain unseen and slowed his pace to a crawl. Although he had become well overdo in his delivery of vegetables to Mamie from Barts' field, he was much more interested in discovering the source of this incorrect imitation. The nasal barks only continued as Koroku neared its origin, which was nothing other than someone within the Budehuc trading post. Koroku, still attempting stealth, crawled through the open doorway on his belly and found the shop seemingly void of life from his low vantage point. The trading post was covered in foreign scents of various cloths, exotic foods, and candles. Most of these scents Koroku had become familiar with during his time in the castle enough not to be alarmed, but they were still unidentifiable by even the very intelligent canine. He had only just become brave enough to enter the trading post, while he had before just remained outside and snooped about its garbage for spoiled foods.

"Aroou! Customer! Aroou!" the almost mocking voice came again.

Koroku looked up and behind himself to find a wooden object with a colorful, green parrot perched atop it, obviously the culprit of the Koroku imitations. The dog wrinkled his nose at the base of the perch. He certainly despised the scent of birds and all the other unpleasenties they involved.

"Who is it, Waurenhyte?" Scott, a trader who wore a ridiculous red beret and stripes of all sorts, asked as he appeared from the back room and closed the door with a thud. The man scanned the room with a puzzled expression, "I don't see anyone here."

"Aroou!" the bird answered, flapping its clipped wings and bobbing up and down fanatically. This caused Koroku to stand on his hind legs in an attempt to nip at the bird's tail feathers, but he had to quickly go back down to all fours to balance the vegetables he was carrying.

Scott gave a cheerful smile as he watched the interaction. "It's only Koroku! Waurenhyte, why didn't you say so sooner?" Scott chuckled as he came closer to investigate the bulging pouches the dog wore. "Is that a carrot top sticking out of that pocket?" Scott amusedly opened the pouch in question as his smile grew larger. "It is a carrot!"

"Aroo!" Koroku barked with his tail wagging slightly.

"Aroou!" Waurenhyte squawked, only to be followed by a shushing from the still smiling trader who had already begun unloading tomatoes and carrots to the wooden floor from Koroku's many leather pockets. The dog kept wagging his tail in relief from the loss of weight.

After taking a few moments for calculation on an appropriate price for the goods Scott nodded. "I'll pay 350 potch for all of this".

"Aroo?" Koroku tilted his head to the side.

Scott, ignoring the questioning canine, had already claimed the fresh vegetables for himself and took them to the trading counter where he began counting out pouch from an old, antique register. Koroku looked up at Waurenhyte with a puzzled expression and then turned the same look to its owner. Wearing a ridiculous smile that went well with his colorful clothing, Scott came over to Koroku's side and placed the 350 potch within Koroku's right pouches. "I would ask how you got a hold of the vegetables, but I suppose you have a good standing with Barts and he gave them to you. So, there you go, Koroku, our transaction is complete and you can get going." Scott patted Koroku's head once as the dog blinked a bit. Koroku never remembered declaring any indication that he wanted to trade anything with Scott, but since the trade had already been made, it really did not matter to Koroku that the vegetables were gone, but more that the weight of a few coins was better than the cumbersome vegetables.

"Aroo," Koroku barked happily as he sniffed Scott's hand which smelt of Barts' vegetables and various other exotic items.

Waurenhyte mimicked back once more with a more accurate "aroo" as Koroku, slightly leaning to his right side, began to trot out the doorway.

Mamie took off her hat and wiped the sweat from her forehead tiredly. She had been cooking throughout the morning and had seen no sign of her canine errand runner. Taking a moment away from the stove to look about again, Mamie heard a slight panting and light swooshing of air which she recognized as that of the very overdue Koroku. She looked below the counter and found her tail wagging employee looking back at her with large, wet, puppy-dog eyes.

Putting her hands on her hips, Mamie gave Koroku a very serious look. "Where have you been? I needed those vegetables hours ago!"

"Aroo…" He put his head down and his tail between his legs in shame.

The chef left her kitchen and came to stand beside the whimpering animal. She studied the pouches for a moment and shook her head in disappointment. "Where are my vegetables, Koroku?" Koroku barked and responded with an effort at undoing a pouch strap with his hind leg. "What do you have in that pocket?" Mamie asked as she noticed something jingling in his pouches. Koroku shifted his body to try and compensate for the weight on his right side, which resulted in another jingling of coins. "Potch?" Mamie reached over and unsnapped a pouch to pull out a hand full of coins.

"Aroo!" Koroku's eyes lit up as he sensed forgiveness, but Mamie only shrugged and continued to unload the coins.

"Don't think this makes up for not doing your job, although I must admit…it's not too bad." Mamie smiled slightly and patted Koroku's side. "And by the way, don't show up for work here tomorrow. You're fired."

"Aroo!" Koroku ran off happily with the removal of his restaurant duties.

"Doesn't he want me to take off the saddle pouch?" Mamie asked herself. She put a finger to her lips in thought but shrugged off the questioning of Koroku's odd behaviors. She was simply too busy to run after the dog, so instead, she replaced the oversized chef's hat atop her head and went back to work. He'll be back, she thought, it's only a matter of time before he decides he's hungry for my gourmet cooking.

As Mamie went back to work, she laughed to herself at the sound of a loud "AROOOOO!"

* * *

**Author's Note:** Well, there's another addition to my silly Koroku adventures. The only problem I had with this one is that I could not remember a single thing about Scott's personality or if he really had much of one to build on. I hope anyone who read it enjoyed it. Bye for now! 


	5. A Night Time Walk

** Disclaimer:** Koroku agilely jumped and grabbed the door knob with both of his fore paws. With little effort, He used his entire weight to shift the knob to the right until the door opened with a soft click. Within the simple room a computer sat directly across of Koroku with its cursor blinking idly after the words "Suikoden and its many characters belong to Konami, and not the author of this simple fan fiction." After reading the words, Koroku left the room with a soft "aroo".

* * *

**A Night Time Walk**

**Koroku and Shiba**

Guest Starring: Watari

The dark corridor was entirely silent except for the soft pads of Koroku's feet against the cold, stone floor. At this hour most of Budehuc's residents had retired to their rooms, but Koroku had slept all of the prior day away and was in no mood for another long nap.

Using his keen canine senses, Koroku navigated the lower levels of the castle with ease. Long walks like Koroku's current one were strongly discouraged by humans, but that quite certainly meant nothing to the often rebellious canine. Also, much to the dog's surprise, at least one human was not quite asleep this night either.

Koroku wrinkled his nose as he noticed the warmth of a human body beside him. Stopping his brisk trot, Koroku barked as he began to sniff what he reasoned to be the human's feet in interest. He waited for a reply, but none came, and he followed it with a second louder "aroo" to make certain this human, who Koroku curiously noted barely had a scent at all, heard him.

"…," was the only reply.

Koroku rubbed up against the stoic figure and thumped his tail against its leg. It replied with a slight head movement in Koroku's direction but otherwise gave no reply to the dog's curious behaviors.

"Leave Watari alone, Little Koroku," a low voice boomed from down the corridor. The speaker's loud footsteps thudded towards the caramel dog.

"Aroo! Aroo. Aroo," came the happy response as Koroku instantly recognized the powerful voice of the lizardman Shiba, who was also out on his own night time walk. Whipping Watari's leg with his tail once more, Koroku quickly trailed after Shiba in to the main hall of the castle.

Moonlight basked the checkered tiles of Budehuc castle in a pale silvery glow that always had a calming effect on both Koroku and Shiba. Humans often used this time to sleep, but for Koroku it was another chance at adventure, and Shiba felt less awkward when humans were not around. The peaceful serenade of crickets in the darkness drew Shiba towards the courtyard as the little dog followed while sniffing Shiba's scaled feet in amusement.

Shiba never said much to the little dog, although he obviously enjoyed his time with Koroku as much as the canine did with him. Koroku regarded Shiba just as he did any other resident of Budehuc, and perhaps that did make the two a likely pair. They also shared a mutual appreciation for the night, one many of the humans could never understand. The lizardman made his way to the front door and chuckled deeply as Koroku leaped at the handle and opened it with his entire body before Shiba could even reach for it.

"Where do dogs learn those kinds of maneuvers?" Shiba inquired.

Koroku padded outside without noticing the question and waited for Shiba with his tail wagging across the moon lit grass. The large lizardman, menacing to the typical person, sat beside the dog and patted its head in appreciation of the company. Shiba looked at the animal with what would be considered a smile by his kind, although humans would describe it more as a hostile bearing of teeth. Koroku merrily returned the smile with head nods and tail wags.

"Humans treat us both badly at times, but I could never do something like that to such an understanding animal. They just don't understand us because we're not the same size," it was a true enough statement because many human's underappreciated both of them for their lack of human-sized bodies. "And, if Cecile is correct, they might fear both of us for our combat prowess!" Shiba gave a low laugh as Koroku arooed in total agreement, which in combination ceased the crickets' orchestral performance.

Koroku stretched out on his back and rolled about in the grass for a moment as he watched the stars move with his own tossing and turning. It was such a simple thing that many would find silly or senseless, but Shiba admired the free spirit Koroku possessed in being able to find pleasure from such things. Dogs were such unique creatures, and Koroku really was intelligent as Cecile suggested in many ways. Shiba had always seen Koroku as, unlike humans, one who was able to appreciate all of life's little anomalies and explore it without always using other's opinions to misconstrue experiences, everything was truly an adventure. It was an odd thought, but one worth pondering in the night as it felt like all the rest of the world sat idle and unaware.

The dog's intelligent eyes turned to Shiba as if reading his thought and gave a quiet aroo as he yawned in drowsiness. Shiba could also truly relate to that thought as well, thinking about such things was a tiring business and maybe this was the point when one had to sleep. Night walking sometimes made him think _too_ much and he was over do for some sleep.

"Aroo!" Koroku exclaimed as he left Shiba to his thoughts and slowly ambled towards his little, wooden dog house.

Shiba stood and saluted the dog with an odd hand gesture that was no doubt intended to be performed with a pole axe. "Good night Lieutenant Koroku and good luck in your adventures tomorrow."

Hearing the formal title usually only used by Cecile, Koroku gave a pleasant "aroo". He then settled down for another night's long nap, one which was filled with his own glorious adventures.

* * *

** Author's Note:** I'd just like to say that I know how odd this installment is, and it really is the production of being half asleep and bored beyond all hope. That's all, I hope it wasn't too brain numbingly boring or bizarre. Bye for now! 


End file.
